


Memory Games

by lfvoy



Series: Tales from Winter Camp [4]
Category: Earth 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-08
Updated: 2011-10-08
Packaged: 2017-10-24 09:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/262101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lfvoy/pseuds/lfvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Table games are sometimes more than boards and playing pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memory Games

True looked up at Yale, still a little uncertain. “This is called four-two?”

“Right,” said Yale. “A four on one die and a two on the other. Now, how do you move?”

She spoke confidently this time. “One checker goes four points and one goes two.”

“Exactly.”

True considered the backgammon set before them. Yale had found a discarded scrap of wood which wasn’t suited for anything. Instead of letting it go to waste, he’d cut it in half and then wood-burned points onto one half and sliced the other half into sixty-four even squares. He’d debated burning a checkerboard onto the other side, but right now backgammon was enough.

Uly snorted when True began her move. “That’s not the way to do it.”

“Yes it is!” she protested. “I’m moving it four points, just like I’m supposed to.”

“Yeah, but you ought to move that one two points.” He pointed at another checker. “ _That’s_ the one you ought to move four.”

“Why?” Her voice was starting to rise.

Yale kept his voice patient and even, intending to stop the squabble before it could begin in earnest. “True, try to think two moves ahead. What do you think Uly will do on his next move?”

She looked at him as if he were crazy. “How can I know? He hasn’t rolled yet.”

“Try it anyway,” he answered in an encouraging tone. “What if he got five-one?”

Uly started to answer but Yale quelled him with a look. “Let her have a couple of minutes.”

With an air of pained tolerance, True studied the board. “Well, if I were him, I’d move that one five points and that one, one.”

“But the one is closer to his table. Why wouldn’t he move that?”

“Because he’d get the one with five all the way off his table,” she answered immediately. “And the one will still be far away enough that he could move it off with either a two or a three.”

“Right,” he answered. “Now, what if Uly rolled six-one?”

“Then he’d move that one, one point.”

“Correct. Now, how can you block him from making the most advantageous move?”

“Oh! I get it now.” She glared at Uly. “He’s right. I should move them the other way.”

“Any moron could have figured that out,” he said. “Probably even faster.”

“It’s just a stupid game!” she shot back. “I have more important things to do most of the time. We’re only playing it ’cause we’re snowed in.”

“You’re just jealous.” A sneer had crept into Uly’s voice.

“You’re _both_ cranky and tired. That’s enough,” said Devon firmly behind them. “Yale, how close are you to the end of the game?”

He only needed a glance. “In the best case, about six moves.”

“Okay,” she answered. “That’ll take a little while, so you can finish the game tomorrow morning. Right now, it’s time for bed.”

This earned the expected protests out of both children, but Devon stood firm and led them away from the table. Yale picked up the backgammon board and moved it aside, careful not to disturb the checkers’ positions. After placing it, he studied it for a moment, considering the potential scenarios.

In most of them, Uly won. True had held him off admirably, but she still didn’t have the same grasp of strategy. She was learning fast, though, and this point would be a perfect time to stop and teach them a bit of two-dimensional reasoning. Backgammon was, of course, a perfect example for game theory.

Yale frowned suddenly. Game theory was usually a university-level topic. He was a tutor for younger children. Why was he remembering its theoretical applications so quickly and easily?

He took a deep breath as he thought about it. The simplest example was that this was a memory, not some esoteric knowledge that had been reprogrammed into his brain. In his experience, the simplest explanation tended to be the most accurate.

The thought sent his mind reeling in a dozen different directions. He shook his head, hoping to clear it. It had taken him nearly two weeks to reconcile the broken memory wash with the information that he’d received as part of his “re-education.” The memories were returning in fragments, so he still trusted the programmed information more.

Each time another memory returned, it shook him.

“Yale?” He turned to find Bess behind him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, yes,” he answered too quickly. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

He took another deep breath. “I’m…experiencing another memory. But I will be all right.”

“Oh,” she said. “What kind of memory?”

He indicated the game board. “I’m remembering mathematical theories, studies that involved using backgammon as an example. I can…” He trailed off as the memory clarified. “I can see the calculations on a screen, remember long conversations with fellow students. They became quite animated at times.”

“You were studying higher math?” she asked. “Why would you have been doing that?”

“I know that I was in graduate school when…when things happened.” It was too painful to think about the details leading to his induction into the Yale program. “I don’t know what I was studying.”

“Maybe you were studying math.”

“It’s possible,” he answered thoughtfully. “There are several reasons to study game theory, though.”

“But I bet it’s a clue.” She smiled. “Maybe it’ll help you remember some more. I bet you were pretty smart, and pretty special too.”

He took comfort from the gentle touch of her hand. “Maybe so.”

“Then that’s a good thing, right?”

“I suppose,” he said slowly. “The…experience of memory return is fairly chaotic.” Yale realized he was shaking a little. “It’s not always particularly pleasant.”

“Well,” she said with more sympathy. “It could be worse. It could happen when you’re with the children, or driving a vehicle. Right now, it’s safe.”

 _Safe._ The word seemed particularly ironic. “What could be safe about a broken memory wash?”

Bess looked around. “What could be safe about trying to walk halfway across the continent?”

“You have a point,” he admitted.

She nodded and squeezed his hand. “We’re here if you need help. There’s no shame in asking, you know. Maybe we’ll learn more about you sometime soon. It’s pretty interesting.”

“Yes,” he said. “I suppose it is.”

“So what’s game theory, anyway?”

Smiling, he started to explain.


End file.
